


Choose Your Battles

by wesawbears



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Gen, warning for homophobic slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 22:57:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11114655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesawbears/pseuds/wesawbears
Summary: 5 times Jeremy almost got a red card, and one time he did.





	Choose Your Battles

I. The first time Jeremy almost gets a red card, it’s as a senior in high school. He avoids looking at the crowd, avoids thinking about how there are scouts out there with all eyes on him. This is his shot and he knows that. He gets subbed in, flashes a smile to his family and pulls his helmet on to run onto the field.

Once he’s in position, the ball is set in play and Jeremy quickly learns that his mark is not the friendly type. By the third time he’s knocked into a wall, face to face with the backliner’s smirk, his hands curl into fists and he wants nothing more than to wipe the smile off his face. He looks at his coach, his family, his future, though, takes a deep breath, and shakes it off. 

And if his mark gets tripped before the end of the night, well, it was purely an accident he’s sure.

II. That night was the night he was recruited to USC and Jeremy adapts easily to the atmosphere of the campus. He knows they chose him in part because of how well he fit the Trojan mold of congeniality, so he tamps down his temper and learns to talk to reporters, gushing sunshine and winning hearts. 

That being said, no amount of California sun would make Jeremy enjoy getting knocked to the ground without really being able to fight back. He’s this close to jumping on the back of his mark to knock them down a peg when he sees his captain shake her head. He swallows his disappointment and listens to her speech to her reporters later that night about accepting defeat with grace, but he knows if he’d punched his mark, they probably could have won. Being a Trojan sucked sometimes.

III. Jeremy’s first impression of Jean Moreau is that he was fucking huge. His second impression is that he’s kind of an asshole. Playing the Ravens was never a pleasant experience, but he notices the sympathetic looks his teammates shoot him when they see that Jean is his mark. 

Jean’s only a freshman, but he’s known by reputation and he doesn’t pull any punches. Jeremy hasn’t been able to score once all game, and he’s hot and frustrated and the last straw is when Moreau picks him up and the refs somehow don’t catch it. He whirls on him and yells, “What the fuck is your problem?”

Jean doesn’t respond and Jeremy’s about to pull his fist back to make him when he sees how hauntingly empty the other man’s eyes are. He decides to simply shake his head and reset for the next play. He’s not a bully like the Ravens.

IV. His first year as Captain, Jeremy feels the pressure of representing the Trojan name even more keenly. He’s made a name for himself as Captain Sunshine, for his positive leadership style and easy manner with reporters and fans.

That said, he was fiercely protective of the little family he’d made and he didn’t take kindly to people thinking they were easy targets just because they were nice, especially when they brought up things that weren’t Exy related.

Unfortunately, as one of the best teams in the game, those tangential things were all the other teams could hit them on. So when in the last quarter of a game he heard a disgruntled opposing player mutter, “I can’t believe we have to play against a team of girls and fags,” Jeremy felt his temper rise. However, he schooled his facial expression into one of polite neutrality and said, “I think you mean you’re about to lose to a team of girls and fags,” and walked away from their shocked faces. It felt better than hitting them anyway.

V. Jeremy genuinely hates very few people in the world. He believes in giving people the benefit of the doubt and bad first impressions and all that. 

Still, after four years, Jeremy thinks he could pretty safely say he hates Riko Moriyama. He was a smug asshole and if Jeremy had to deal with one more condescending, half-hearted handshake, he was gonna lose it.

Despite his inner feelings, he kept his face pleasant and didn’t rise to the bait. Predictably, they lost the death match to the Ravens and he knew most of his team was still furious at him for effectively knocking them out of the playoffs with the way they played against the Foxes. He saw the long game, though, and knew they’d thank him next year when they won. Plus, his team didn’t even know about the acquisition of Jean yet. They would learn tonight with the rest of the world.

Against his better judgement, he couldn’t help saying to Riko as he passed, “That was close. I look forward to seeing how you adjust to being without two of your best players.”

The murderous look on his face was almost worth not being able to punch him.

+1. Jeremy felt a strong sense of deja vu as he stepped into the lights of the court for the semifinal game against the Ravens the next year. However, despite the similarity in circumstance, this year Jeremy was more than they would win. The Ravens were clinging to fading glory and the Trojans had been training with their drills all year.

That said, the Ravens knew their chances as well, so they had arrived thoroughly pissed and predictably headed straight for Jean, saying all matter of things about being a traitor and a worthless sellout. 

Jeremy was proud of how Jean stood his ground and didn’t stoop to their level, in true Trojan fashion. However, it ground on Jeremy’s nerves to see Jean just have to take whatever abuse they hurled at him. He had come so far this year to become someone Jeremy was proud to call a friend and he didn’t want to see all that progress jeopardized.

So when one of the Ravens smirked and taunted, “What’s wrong, Jean? Did they make a little kitten out of you that can’t fight back?” Jeremy took a deep breath and answered, “No he’s just too good for you.” When the other player swung, Jeremy swung back.

The crowd rippled in shock as they realized that Jeremy Knox was about to get a red card and be taken off the field. He left with dignity, but not without whispering, “destroy them,” in Jean’s ear as he was carted off, resigned to the earful he would get from Coach Rhemann.

After the game, all Jean greeted him with was, “That was stupid.”

Jeremy shrugged and grinned. “Yeah. But it was worth it.”

Jean rolled his eyes, but he smiled and slung his arm around Jeremy’s shoulders. Jeremy knew how to pick his battles, but he’d never regret picking this one.


End file.
